TLO oneshot
by Fluffydude41
Summary: What would happen to poor Percy if Annabeth had died from taking that poisoned blade for him?


**A/N: So yeah, I'm officially depressed. So here. Enjoy.**

**Percy's POV**

"Percy…" said Will Solace hesitantly.

I immediately perked up, asking "Yeah?"

"It's Annabeth…" he said, and the look of eyes said it all.

No. No no no no no. She was _not _dead.

"No…."

"I'm sorry Percy. But she's gone."

I collapsed on the couch, head in my hands.

She had died for me. She died taking a poisoned blade for me.

"I thought you said she was fine Solace."

"Yeah," he said nervously. I guess I sounded a bit scary, but could you really blame me?

"I thought she was…until she suddenly tensed, took a huge breath, and just…well…passed."

I flinched as he said passed. Everyone cleared the room to leave me to grief I guess, but I couldn't. I think I was supposed to be crying, but no tears came.

Then I realized you had to be sad to cry. And I wasn't sad.

I was empty.

* * *

**Grover's POV**

I was simply eating an armrest of this Louis the Sixteenth chair when Connor Stoll came back.

"Hey Grover, I think you'll have to go to Percy with this one."

"Why?"

He hesitated before saying, "Well…you'll see."

I walked in to the other room and saw Percy sitting there, just blankly staring at the opposite wall.

I sat next to him hesitantly and waited.

"She died," he said in a voice that definitely was not his. "Annabeth."

"What?! How?!"

"She took a poisoned blade for me. The poison spread too quickly through her body apparently."

"Wow…Percy, I am so sorry."

He nodded. "So you needed to talk about something?"

"Oh! Yeah, I did!"

* * *

**Percy's POV**

"Well, I've mobilized most of the nature spirits in the city—well, the ones that will listen to me anyway." He rubbed his forehead. "I had no idea acorns could hurt so much. Anyway, we're helping out as much as we can."

He told me about the skirmishes they'd seen, and I really did try to pay attention, but that grief? Well, it was starting to really hit me now. Mostly they'd been covering uptown, where we didn't have enough demigods. Hellhounds had appeared in all sorts of places, shadow-traveling insides our lines, and the dryads and satyrs had been fighting them off. A young dragon had appeared in Harlem, and a dozen wood nymphs died before the monster was finally defeated.

As Grover talked, Thalia entered the room with two of her lieutenants. She saw me and waved them off somewhere. Then she sat next to me and I told her what had happened. And despite her efforts a few tears slipped out of her eyes. Grover continued and the tears faded and were replaced with a grim look as Grover completed his report—the details getting worse and worse.

"We lost twenty satyrs against some giants at Fort Washington," he said, his voice trembling. "Almost half of my kinsmen. River spirits drowned the giant in the end, but…"

Thalia shouldered her bow. "Percy, Kronos's forces are still gathering at every bridge and tunnel. And Kronos isn't the only titan. One of my hunters spotted a huge man on the Jersey shore. I'm not sure who he is, but he radiates power like only a Titan or a god."

I remembered the golden Titan from my dream—the one on Mount Othrys who erupted into flames.

"Great," I said bitterly. "Is there _any_ good news?"

"We've sealed off the subway tunnels into Manhattan," said Thalia. "My best trappers took care of it. Also, it seems like the enemy is waiting for tonight to attack. I think Luke"—she caught herself—"I mean Kronos needs to time to regenerate after each fight. He's still not comfortable with his new form. It's taking a lot of his power to slow down time around the city."

Grover nodded. "Most of his forces are more powerful at night too. But they'll be back after sundown.

I nodded, trying to think clearly, "Okay. Any word from the gods?"

Thalia shook her head. "I know Lady Artemis would be here if she could. Athena too. But Zeus ordered them to stay at his side. The last I heard, Typhon was destroying the Ohio River Valley. He should reach the Appalachian mountains by midday."

"So, at best, we've got another two days before he arrives. _Perfect_," I said.

Jake mason cleared his throat. He had just entered the room so silently I didn't even notice.

"Percy, something else," he said. "The way Kronos showed up at the Williamsburg Bridge, like he knew you were going to be there. And he shifted his forces to our weakest points. As soon as we deployed, he changed tactics. He barely touched the Lincoln Tunnel, where the hunters were strong. He went for our weakest spots, like he knew."

"Like he had inside information," I said. "Just great. The spy," putting my head in my heads once more.

"What spy?" Thalia demanded.

I told her about the silver charm Kronos had shown me, the communication device, through a gap in between my hands.

"That's bad," she said. "Very bad."

"And it could be anyone," Jake said. I immediately looked at him. "What? We were all standing there when you gave orders."

"But what can we do?" Grover asked. "Frisk every demigod until we find a scythe charm?"

They all looked at me, waiting for a decision. I couldn't show my fear on top of my emptiness, even now that everything felt purposeless.

"No," I said. "We can't obsess about this spy. If we're suspicious of each other, we'll just tear ourselves apart." I took a deep breath to control my emotions and said, "You guys were awesome last night. I couldn't ask for a braver army. Let's set up a rotation for the watches. Rest up while you can. We've got a long night ahead of us."

The demigods mumbled agreement. They went their separate ways to sleep or eat or repair their weapons.

"Percy, you too," Thalia said. "We'll keep an eye on things. Go lie down. We need you in good shape for tonight."

I didn't argue that hard. I found the nearest bedroom and crashed on the canopied bed. I didn't sleep though, not for a long time. I cried myself to sleep, the pain becoming too much. I almost wailed with grief as it really started to hit me that Annabeth had died. And not just died. Died taking a poison blade that I wish had taken me.

* * *

In my dream, I saw Nico Di Angelo alone in the gardens of Hades. He'd just dug a hole in one of Persephone's flower beds, which I didn't figure would make the queen very happy.

He poured a goblet of wine into the hole and began to chant. "Let the dead taste again. Let them rise and take this offering. Maria Di Angelo, show yourself!"

White smoke gathered. A human figure formed, but it wasn't Nico's mother. It was a girl with dark hair, olive skin, and the silvery clothes of a Hunter.

"Bianca," Nico said. "But—"

_Don't summon our mother, Nico, _she warned. _She is the one spirit you are forbidden to see._

"Why?" he demanded. "What's our father hiding?"

_Pain, _Bianca said. _Hatred. A curse that stretches back to the Great Prophecy._

"What do you mean?" Nico said. "I have to know!"

_The knowledge will only hurt you. Remember what I said: holding a grudge is a fatal flaw for children of Hades._

"I know that," Nico said. "But I'm not the same as I used to be, Bianca. Stop trying to protect me!"

_Brother, you don't understand—_

Nico swiped his hand through the mist, and Bianca's image dissipated.

"Maria Di Angelo," he said again. "Speak to me!"

A different image formed. It was a scene rather than a single ghost.

In the mist, I saw Nico and Bianca as little children, playing in the lobby of an elegant hotel, chasing each other around marble columns.

A woman sat on a nearby sofa. She wore a black dress, gloves, and a black veiled hat like a star from an old 1940s movie. She had Bianca's smile and Nico's eyes.

On a chair next to her sat a large, oily man in a black pin-stripe suit. With a shock, I realized it was Hades. He was leaning toward the woman, using his hands as he talked, like he was agitated.

"Please, my dear," he said. "You _must_ come to the Underworld."

**A/N: I'm gonna skip the rest of this dream since it doesn't have much of importance and you can just read in in TLO.**

* * *

I was still tossing and turning when Thalia woke me up. "Percy," she said. "Come on. It's late afternoon. We've got visitors." I sat up, disoriented. The bed was too comfortable, and I hated sleeping in the middle of the day.

"Visitors?" I said.

Thalia nodded grimly. "A Titan wants to see you, under a flag of truce. He has a message from Kronos."

Great, I thought.

**A/N: Yes, I am very depressed and in the middle of re-reading TLO, so I decided to write this fic. Thank you for reading this depression if you actually bothered to finish it. I'm really actually surprised you're even reading this if you are reading this Author's Note.**


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